Heart of the Crown

by Paul J Bennett

  "Well, I sold him a nice necklace. He said it was for a young girl, I assumed his daughter."

  "Can you describe this necklace?" asked Beverly. "We fear he might have been robbed and we should like to recognize it when we find the culprits."

  "Oh dear," the Dwarf muttered, "I hope he's all right. It was about the size and shape of a shilling, though it was on a silver chain. It had an etching of a dog on it. I had made it years ago for a client, but they passed away before they could pick it up."

  "That sounds like just the sort of thing Gerald would look for," confirmed Beverly. "If he had what he came for he'd head back to the Citadel."

  "What if he decided to go somewhere to eat?" asked Hayley.

  "I've known Gerald a long time," the knight replied. "I doubt he'd pay for food when he can get free meals at the Citadel. No, he would have headed straight home. Let's get outside and take our bearings."

  The exited the building and looked up and down the street.

  "The Citadel lies to the north," commented Beverly.

  "North and west actually," corrected Hayley. "Two bridges cross the river to the Citadel, both of which lie to the north. Of course, he could have hired a boat to ferry him."

  "No," said Beverly, "Gerald doesn't like deep water. I think we can safely assume he'd head for the bridge. What's the most likely way for him to go?"

  "The nearest bridge is about five blocks away, but the road there curves to the east. He'd have to cut across a side street somewhere."

  "Or an alley," said Beverly. "I doubt he'd go missing if he was on the main street. I should think whoever attacked him either lured him into an alley or took advantage as he was taking a shortcut."

  "Seems a reasonable assumption. Let's head north and look for shortcuts along the way."

  They began moving north, and had only gone two blocks when the road curved eastward where they noticed a small alleyway which cut west.

  "That should lead to Lassiter Street, if I'm not mistaken," offered Hayley.

  "That name's familiar. Didn't you say that woman lost her son near Lassiter Street?"

  "She did," admitted the ranger. "We must be on the right track."

  It was Hayley who spotted it first. They were halfway down the alleyway when something shiny caught her eye.

  "Over here," she said, squatting down. She moved some leaves to reveal a silver chain on which a circular coin dangled. "This might be the one Gerald bought. See? There's an engraving of a dog on it."

  Beverly crouched down beside her. "You're right. He must have been attacked and lost it in the struggle. Do you see any footprints?"

  "Yes," confirmed Hayley. "The ground here has been soaked by runoff from the roofs, it's still quite damp. Was Gerald wearing his chainmail when he left?"

  "Yes, he doesn't go anywhere without it, why?"

  "Chainmail has weight, meaning the deeper prints here are likely his."

  "Could they belong to someone else?"

  "Unlikely. There's only one set of deeper prints that are fresh. They lead westward, toward the river."

  "Then lead on, ranger," urged Beverly.

  "I'd love to," said Hayley, "but the prints stop here."

  "How is that even possible?"

  Hayley cast her eyes to the sky. "I think something attacked from above."

  "Like bandits coming from the rooftops? That seems a little unlikely."

  "No, I think something took him and flew off."

  "He was a grown man in armour, Hayley. He'd be far too heavy for someone to carry in flight."

  "You'd be surprised," commented Hayley. "Gryphons can carry very heavy weights for short distances."

  "Are you suggesting a gryphon is on the loose in Loranguard?"

  "A gryphon? No, you're not likely to find one of those in a city. It must be something else."

  "What else would be big enough to carry away a full grown man?"

  "I don't know, it's only a working theory right now."

  "So how do we confirm it?" asked the knight.

  "If I had to guess, I'd say it would lie in wait. It was probably an attack of opportunity. Nobody has reported seeing large creatures circling around, so it must be perched somewhere, waiting for food."

  "Like a bat?"

  "Perhaps," she cast her eyes about. "I want to get up there," she said, indicating the roof to their north.

  "Why there?" asked Beverly.

  "It looks like a good vantage point. The roof is also made of clay tiles, more likely to take my weight. The one to the south is thatched. I haven't had good luck with those."

  "What's that mean?"

  Hayley blushed, "I was visiting the town of Stilldale once, and I might have had to vacate the building quickly. I climbed out onto the roof, but I fell through."

  Beverly was intrigued, "You must tell me more about it sometime when we haven't more important things to do. If you climbed onto my shoulders you'd likely be able to reach the roof; shall we give it a try?"

  Hayley agreed, and so they went about their task. Beverly put her back to the wall with her hands cupped in front of her. The ranger stepped into her hands while Beverly raised her into the air.

  "I thought I was going to stand on your shoulders," Hayley protested.

  "It's easier this way," Beverly said through clenched teeth. "You're lighter than I expected. Can you grab the edge of the roof?"

  "I've got it," she confirmed.

  Beverly felt the weight lift as Hayley pulled herself onto the roof. "Can you see anything?"

  "Hold on a moment," said Hayley, "there's some damage over here."

  Beverly stood away from the wall, looking upward to where she could just see the top of Hayley's head. "What is it?"

  Hayley disappeared from view to reappear a moment later. "There's been damage to some tiles up here," she said. "It looks like something heavy was perched here."

  "Can you estimate how large it was?"

  "Not precisely, but it appears to have had talons of some sort. They're spread apart from each other. I'd have to guess this thing was big, certainly bigger than a Human."

  "And likely big enough to carry away Gerald?" asked Beverly.

  "Yes, but I've no idea what it might be."

  "Surely something that big must have been seen!" pondered Beverly.

  "I would certainly think so, but we've heard no reports of large flying creatures in the area. What do we do now?"

  Beverly thought about the issue for a moment before responding, "We need to talk to Revi, perhaps he'd have some idea of what we're facing."

  * * *

  Beverly and Hayley returned to the Citadel to find the rest of the party gathered in the dining room, Princess Anna nervously pacing back and forth, her face wrinkled in worry. Not wanting to disturb her, Beverly walked over to her cousin to find out what had transpired in her absence.

  "Aubrey, what's happened since this morning?"

  "Arnim and I found out about another kidnapping. We discovered tracks that just stopped. Arnim's not sure what to make of it."

  "Is the prince about?"

  "No," Aubrey replied. "We were told he went to the earl's residence this morning and we haven't heard anything since."

  Anna stopped her pacing and took a seat at the head of the table.

  "Sit, everyone," she commanded. "Let us put our heads together and sift through our information carefully, perhaps we can make some headway. Beverly, did you and Hayley discover anything useful?"

  "Yes, Your Highness, though we still don't know the full story. It appears Gerald was making his way back to the Citadel and cut down an alleyway as a shortcut."

  "That seems to fit with the other disappearances," offered Arnim. "The Captain of the Watch indicated there's been more than a dozen people disappear over the last month or so."

  "Well," continued Beverly, pausing to word their suspicions carefully, "Hayley and I think that something flew off with him."

  "Preposterous," exclaimed Arnim. "A creatu
re large enough to do that would be obvious to everyone. Did you check for sewer entrances?"

  "What's a sewer?" asked Aubrey.

  "It's an underground waterway," offered Revi. "They're used to channel water back to the river after a rain, along with more undesirable liquids."

  "Undesirable liquids?" repeated Aubrey.

  "Yes, primarily urine, but any liquid that is dumped will run down the sewers."

  "Exactly," added Arnim. "I think it likely that thieves waylaid him and then made off to the sewers."

  "That wouldn't work," commented Revi. "The sewers in that part of the city would be too small, the city uses children to clean them out, and even they find it a tight fit."

  "How on earth would you know that?" asked Arnim.

  "The knowledge of a mage is infinite," remarked Revi.

  "With all due respect, Master Revi, that sounds like a steaming pile of dragon shit," said Hayley. "How do you really know?"

  Revi smiled, "It just so happens that today I obtained a map of the city which shows the sewer lines. Sophie, would you be kind enough to retrieve my satchel from the hallway?"

  Anna's maid left the room, returning with a carefully rolled square of paper, "Is this it?"

  "Yes, thank you," he said, accepting the package with care. "Let me spread it out here, and we can examine it together. I know the princess loves maps, so I thought this might be of some use."

  "An excellent idea, Master Revi," complimented Anna. "Arnim, show us where the missing people were last seen."

  "I have a list here," interrupted Aubrey. "Captain Caster had me write everything down."

  "Have you your charcoal, Lady Aubrey?" asked the princess.

  "Yes, Your Highness."

  "Good, then mark each location on the map with a cross. Beverly, you show us where you think Gerald was taken."

  "Right here," Beverly replied, stabbing her finger down. "There's an alley between two buildings, though it's not marked on the map."

  "What would be big enough to carry Gerald away?" asked Anna, looking to Hayley.

  "I don't know," responded the ranger. "It would have to be large. We found crushed tiles on the roof of one of the buildings. It looked like feet of some sort, possibly talons, had crushed some of the clay tiles. I would say they were a good two feet or so apart. It couldn't be too large, or it would likely have crashed through the roof."

  "So what would be the upper limit, do you think?" asked the princess.

  "Perhaps slightly larger than a man," Hayley offered.

  "If it was flying," said Revi, "and it was that large, its wingspan would have to be immense."

  "Could it be using magic to fly?" asked Arnim.

  "No," said Revi with some finality, "it's impossible to fly with magic."

  "Can you say that with absolute conviction?" asked the princess.

  "Your Highness," he responded, "it has been the dream of mages for centuries to be able to fly. Certainly, a creature could bear a mage into the sky, a dragon perhaps, but there has been no written record of a mage ever developing a spell of flying."

  "So," mused Anna, "we have a large creature flying, possibly carrying a full grown Human. Why has no one seen it?"

  "No one is watching the sky," offered Arnim. "And why would they? People go about their business. They don't look for what they don't expect."

  "I don't agree with that," countered Beverly. "People don't walk around all day staring at the ground. If there were a large creature like this flying around, someone would see it, or at the very least, hear it."

  "What if," offered Aubrey, "the creature has some way of disguising itself?"

  "Intriguing," said Anna, "go on."

  "Well, what about the blend spell, Master Revi?"

  "What's that?" asked Arnim.

  "It's an enchantment," replied Revi, "so it's a little out of my domain, but essentially when cast, it allows the recipient to blend in with the surroundings."

  "You mean it looks like a person?" clarified Hayley.

  "No, not exactly. Imagine you and I are walking down the street. I'm wearing my robes and people look at me and think 'look, a mage', or they might see your bow and think 'look, a ranger'. With a blend spell, they would see us as we are, but they would take no notice of us. To the viewer, we would just seem like we belong."

  "So our mysterious attacker is an enchanter?" asked Arnim.

  "I doubt that," offered Aubrey, "but spells are often recreations of effects held by magical creatures."

  "Fairy Tales!" uttered Arnim.

  "No," contradicted Revi, "creatures with magical abilities are well documented, though we don't see them these days in Merceria."

  "Are there any creatures that you know of that would have this 'blend' ability?" asked Anna.

  "No, Highness," confessed Revi, "and in any event, the effect of a blend would be cancelled as soon as aggressive action was taken. I feel confident when I say that attacking and carrying off a victim would render the creature visible."

  "What if it was invisible?" blurted out Sophie.

  Anna turned to her maid in surprise, "An excellent question, Sophie. Do you think that's possible, Master Bloom?"

  Revi Bloom pursed his lips as he thought. His eyes scanned the ceiling as he tried to recall anything he might have read on the subject.

  "As far as I know, no one has been able to master invisibility, but they have managed to distort the image of a target to make it harder to see."

  "What does that mean?" asked Beverly.

  "I know," said Hayley. "There are lizards in the Forest of Mist that disguise themselves by changing their colour. Is that what you mean?"

  "Similar to that, yes," confirmed Revi, "though the magic is a bit harder to describe. Think of someone you know that is very old. Their eyesight begins to go, and then they have difficulty recognizing faces. The spell is similar to that. It 'fuzzes' the outline, makes it less distinct. If it was powerful enough, people might only see a slight distortion. They might not even notice it."

  "Especially if it were airborne," commented the princess, "but do we know of any such creature?"

  "No," admitted the mage, "I'm afraid not. My notes only extend so far, and my library is back in Wincaster, at least the part I have access to."

  Aubrey was startled, "The part you have access to? What do you mean?"

  "I must confess," said Revi, "that when Andronicus died, he hadn't completed my training. He told me he had a tower which contained a wealth of knowledge, but he went to the Afterlife before he revealed its location to me."

  "So we'll have to go on gut instincts," said Anna. "Hayley, you're the ranger here. Tell me, if there were such a creature, what do you think it would do?"

  Hayley gazed at the map. Aubrey had been marking X's all over it, and now it was evident to all that they covered a relatively small area of the town.

  "I should think it has a lair somewhere," she offered. "No one's found any bodies, so it must be taking them home to eat. Sorry, Your Highness."

  Anna had paled at the comment. "No," she stated, "I refuse to believe that Gerald is dead. I just know that he's still alive. What kind of place would work as a lair?"

  "If it's taking people, it would need some space. If we assume it's flying, then it must have wings. It would need an open area where it could fit into, and yet be far enough away from people that it wouldn't be seen. I suspect there must be an abandoned building of some type, maybe an old warehouse?"

  "The map only shows the streets and sewers," commented Arnim. "We'll have to search the area for likely candidates."

  "How big an area are we talking about?" asked the princess.

  "Based on the marks on the map we're talking about a significant area, almost a tenth of the city."

  "Then that's what we'll do, starting immediately. Beverly, organize the knights. Arnim, call out the entire bodyguard, we're heading into the streets of Loranguard."

  "Is that wise, Highness," protested Arnim. "Someone must p
rotect you."

  "And so you will, I'm going with you," said Anna, and the look on her face told everyone there would be no arguing.

  Twenty-Four

  The Nest

  Autumn 960 MC

  Anna rose from her bed, unable to sleep. She paced the room, talking to Tempus who wagged his tail in appreciation of the attention. She was near the door, turning to repeat her steps when Tempus growled, running to the window. He placed his paws on the sill and Anna moved beside him to see what had alarmed him.

  Outside, it was quite dark, and she cursed the candlelight that obscured her night vision. She quickly retraced her steps to her bed to blow out the candle which sat beside her headboard. Returning to the window, she gazed down on the yard below. She could make out what looked like a wolf. It was all one shade of grey and seemed to be staring at her window. She opened the shutters and felt the need to call out.

  "Gerald!" she yelled. Tempus barked, his tail wagging, and she called out again, "Gerald."

  Lights began appearing in nearby windows as servants were awoken by the noise. The wolf howled once; a long, forlorn sound, and then started heading south. Anna rushed to the door, Tempus following. She ran down the hallway calling Gerald's name, but servants came forth, blocking her way.

  They tried to calm her, told her she was imagining things, but she wouldn't listen. She attempted to push past them, but they weren't her own people, they served the earl, and they feared she might be out of her mind.

  She finally called out for Beverly who must have already been on her way, for she rounded the corner almost immediately. The red-haired knight ordered the servants to release her, and Anna ran for the stairs. Down she flew, rushing out the front door in a vain attempt to see the strange figure once more, but it was too late. The wolf had disappeared into the darkness.

  * * *

  It was early morning when Anna called everyone together. They were assembled, once again, in the dining hall for it was one of the few rooms that had the capacity, for not only were her advisors present but all of the Knights of the Hound, as well.

  "We're running out of time," she started.